OTF

Going to be a big pain again this season. We're a different side with him in the team, he takes a lot of pressure off the defense.

He is a 'Georgie' himself!

Goaloccini!

To be fair he does quite well to talk so much on his own, and has obviously researched the club quite a bit.

It's like it's a different game. A lot of talking but so hard to follow what's happening.

Stuffed up back pass from a midfielder. Shola picked it up and gracefully stroked it past a stranded and highly annoyed keeper. I'd imagine it was something like that anyway. FTR Andy Carroll had a very successful time at Newcastle, but not 'Alan Shearer successful'.

On the back of his scintillating form Newcastle United are pleased to announce that Shola Ameobi has been rewarded with a contract extension. "When I seen Shola score that goal against Columbus I known that we had a great goal scorer on our hands, just what we'd been looking for. It's fantastic to be able to reveal that we has given Shola the famous number 9, and we trust that he will provide the goals and excitement that the supporters deserve" - Pardew

Converted the unforced error into a winner with a powerful stroke from the backcourt.

Shola! 1-0

Let's hope we get the shutout here guys, if we can hold on until they bring their close out pitcher on we should we in with a chance - provided their special team does a poor job on the kick returns of course.

Spidermag!

Is this guy intentionally trying to be annoying?

Not a bad side really. Gosling given a chance in central midfield should be interesting. Cabaye in for him, Barton in for Marveaux, Simpson in for Tavernier, and HBA for Shola and that's probably our strongest side (ok, so 4 changes out of 11 is quite a few).

That's a misnomer, Everton in particular pay good wages to their key players, it's how they've managed to keep them. They know it's better value overall to keep known quality than it is to chance it on the market. Not very exciting for their fans, but that stability in their side has been key to their relative consistency in the league.

What's the chance that Demba Ba is on more than Enrique (and in turn more than the offer he has 'on the table')? If it was the case what would people think of that? Try to justify it from any perspective except the owners (the justification for the owner is obvious).

Depends on your classification of World Class, for me I don't think Enrique would be out of place in any national side. He's not the perfect player, and there's certainly avenue for improvement. If he goes to a better side I think he will improve provided his hamstring issues don't begin to plague him. He's at the age now where he should be getting a lot smarter as a player, playing with generally smarter* players will speed that along. * - Football smarts.

I agree, but relatively speaking it's a drop in the ocean.

Me too. Fouls all the time, complains about it an in general is just incredibly awkward. He's a pretty decent player who developed late in his career but having him in your side is conducive to ugly long ball play.

Enrique doesn't strike me as the type of fullback who is desperate to play as a winger. Whatever Enrique is on (it won't be 50K) he deserves more to stay here. He's a genuinely world class defender who got stuck in when we were relegated and helped drag us back up. If you don't pay decent wages you just cannot compete. Fantastic players necessitate fantastic wages, not pretend 'fantastic' ones.

No doubt

Where has the 50K a week figure for Enrique come from? I know we were much more liberal with wages when he was signed, but he was a relatively unproven young defender coming from the Spanish league where wages are a fair bit lower (particularly outside of the top two teams). I'd say it would be a figure closer to 40K.

Interesting how Pardew has scaled back the 'fantastic contract' to now just a 'good offer'.

It's very worrying. Having Enrique out there really makes a huge difference to the way we play. He's a very viable option for playing the ball out from the back, and when he's there he brings the best out of Jonas. Even against Orlando Enrique coming on gave us a spark that was completely devoid in the first half. If they bring in a Simpson standard fullback then our defense will have to resort to hoofing the ball up the pitch taking the likes of Jonas, Cabaye, Barton and HBA out of the game. Our target men options aren't exactly fantastic either, so a lot of the times those hoofs will result in turning over possession and having to defend which of course the new left back won't be as good at. If there are no offers coming in for Enrique for the sake of the team the club should keep him until at least January and line up a replacement of note. Whether he goes now, in January or for nothing next summer we need a replacement left back. The whole sell before you buy doesn't apply here because it's a virtual certainty that he'll be going within the year. Giving a new fullback that time to settle wouldn't be a good idea in terms of performance on the pitch, though Ashley won't want to fund the extra wages whilst still paying Enrique and watching his market value fall as his free availability looms. IMO over the course of one season the value of Enrique in the side would exceed 8M - taking into account the final league position and the entertainment value of the team. Of course Ashley will be keen to bring someone in on a lower wage because he'll fancy the chances of our league position being there or thereabouts regardless and will want to cash in on Enrique. Again though, if we were a properly run club there would have been an improved offer made to Enrique after promotion was confirmed. The team morale was at a high and the lure of being back in the top league could have been enough with some loyalty and commitment shown through increased wages which were deserved.

Peas in a pod - money over integrity.

I have no doubt that the lies would be around the club continually talking up their plans and ambition all the while their actions speak otherwise. Now we're continually finding out from sources in the club that the lies and misleading is at all levels and not just to the media and supporters. We've seen a string of young players leave because of ambition while the club talks about bringing in or bringing though young talent. Milner, N'Zogbia, Bassong, Carroll and Enrique next. At the same time more experienced players with a strong connection to the club, the fans or the players have departed - Given, Duff and Nolan. Chez is right that this is something we knew was coming, but this is still another artifact in the museum of management fuckups that is the Mike Ashley Newcastle United era. A properly run club would have had Enrique signed to a better deal after promotion was cliched.